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Blue Alert As Leonard Cohen's former backup singer-keyboardist and current girlfriend, Anjani Thomas has a pretty good pedigree; she and Cohen also collaborated...Blue AlertPop As Leonard Cohen's former backup singer-keyboardist and current girlfriend, Anjani Thomas has a pretty good pedigree; she and Cohen also collaborated...2006-05-26

As Leonard Cohen’s former backup singer-keyboardist and current girlfriend, Anjani Thomas has a pretty good pedigree; she and Cohen also collaborated on material for this major-label debut. But Blue Alert only reminds you that Cohen’s words are better served by his own gravelly tone than by someone with a more conventionally pretty voice. These songs have their share of arresting lyrics (”We made us a room, but the roof’s falling in”), but Thomas’ blandly spotless delivery and the monotonous cabaret settings only neutralize them.